Mary Anning, 1799 – 1847, was born into a poor family and had no training as a scientist. She lived in Lyme Regis on England’s Jurassic Coast and made a living as a fossil hunter.

Her extraordinary finds in the landslips on the beach made her world famous.

She was entirely self-taught but her discovery of the plesiosaur and other prehistoric creatures changed the way we see the world. In 2010 the Royal Society included her in the list of the ten women who have most influenced science.

If you’d like to read about more extraordinary women, why not buy the book Reaching the Stars, Poems about Extraordinary Women and Girls, by me, Jan Dean and Michaela Morgan – link below, press on book!

I’m visiting from the A-Z challenge and this month I am writing about personality quirks for developing characters in novels. Please visit A-ZPersonalityQuirksforWriters

As to why I am here: I am working on a middle grade bio series of intrepid women (using another of my pseudonyms) and Mary Anning is one of them! I expect to learn of other interesting women here this month. Thanks for the series. Great theme! I’ll be back periodically. You’re on my blog roll!